In order to expedite your application process, please fill out and submit this pre-application survey. This material will be reviewed by Geosciences faculty only and will otherwise remain confidential. Submitting this pre-application simply indicates your interest in our program and does not incur any cost or obligation on your part.

This pre-application is not an official application for admission to Virginia Tech. To officially apply to graduate school and for financial aid, you must still complete the Graduate School application, which can be found at https://graduateschool.vt.edu/admissions/how-to-apply.html. The department begins reviewing official applications January 5 for Fall admission and October 1 for Spring admission. We recommend that prospective students submit applications by the listed dates, but we accept applications at anytime.

After submitting your pre-application, please contact individual faculty by email to initiate discussions about possible research directions and inquire about open positions and funding. Establishing individual connections with faculty is an essential part of the application process, so please do not hesitate to write multiple faculty in the areas you are interested in. While your pre-application will be made available to all faculty, these can sometimes be overlooked, so it is particularly important to contact faculty of interest if you do not hear back from anyone after a few weeks.

Official applications for admission are evaluated by the Department, rather than the Graduate School. After completing your official application, please send any accessory materials (transcripts, letters, test scores) either electronically or in paper form to the Department, to the attention of April Newcomer (see address below). The Department will forward all materials to the Graduate School.

The Department no longer requires the GRE for admission, and as such you will not be asked for GRE scores (if you have them) on this pre-application or on the official Graduate School application. The following are typical lower limits for standardized English testing scores that may be required for international applicants:
TOEFL: 90 (internet), 250 (computer based), 600 (written version); TWE: 5.0; TSE: 50
Virginia Tech will accept IELTS scores of 6.5 or higher in lieu of the TOEFL.

If you have any questions or need any assistance in filling out this survey, contact April Newcomer at +1 540-231-8824, or email to apriln@vt.edu. Direct mail to April Newcomer at the Department of Geosciences, 4044 Derring Hall, Virginia Tech, 926 West Campus Drive, Blacksburg, VA 24061.